By Vincent Capasso

A recent study has demonstrated that many Southeast Asian nation corporate CIOs follow many of the same practices and attitudes as their western counterparts. While this may not seem to surprising at first glance but the consideration of the fact that the cultures are so different might make someone believe corporate IT reporting structures in the east would be completely different than the west. This does not appear to be the case at all.

The IBM study of more than 3,000 global chief information officers (CIOs), including 168 CIOs in ASEAN ( Association of Southeast Asian Nations), shows that their role is seen as fundamental from top management -- 68 percent of the companies interviewed rank technology as totally critical to the success of the business and 58 percent of them have largely integrated business and technology to innovate.

At the same time, CIOs are aware of the priorities of CEOs and have aligned their priorities to the business agenda. The CIOs shared, top three focus areas are:

1.  Strengthening corporate relationships with customers

2.  Developing the skills of employees - either through mentoring or training

3. Gaining insight and intelligence from data by mining corporate data warehouses. 

 In all three focus areas, ASEAN CIOs are more closely aligned and more focused on insights (89%; Global 79%), clients (76%; Global 71%) and people skills (79%; Global 66%) than their global peers.

 This finding is one of dozens of new insights and trends learned from CIOs worldwide. IBM's 2011 Global CIO Study is an analysis of face-to-face interviews with CIOs of organisations of every size, across 71 countries and 18 industries Titled "The Essential CIO," the findings reinforce the increasingly strategic role that CIOs are playing as leaders of innovation and growth.

The study is released in IBM's centennial year as the company acknowledges the historic role it played in both establishing the need for CIOs in the 1950s and 1960s largely considered  the early days of business computing, as well as elevating the CIO position over the ensuing decades to help them get a seat at the C-suite table.

 A shared executive agenda with a clear mandate is empowering CIOs worldwide to help the business get the most out of technology and as the ability to extract insights from structured and unstructured data increases in value, CIOs are gaining increased recognition within their organizations.

"With technology becoming both an enabler of competitive advantage and embedded in every facet of the enterprise, the role of the CIO has never been more essential," said Giuseppe Bruni, Lead, Strategy & Transformation, Global Business Services, IBM ASEAN. "This study provides key evidence of how the capabilities of IT are finally aligned with the aspirations of business leaders".

CEOs today increasingly understand the importance of technology to operating successful organizations. They increasingly rely on CIOs to turn data into usable information, information into intelligence and the intelligence to help in the decision making process. This leads to sound risk management practices. As a result, CIOs are assessing multiple means to make better use of growing data stores. 

The IBM study found that four out of five global CIOs (ASEAN 86%; Global 83%) see business intelligence and analytics as top priorities for their businesses as they seek ways to act upon the growing amounts of data that are now at their disposal. When asked how they will translate data into intelligence, CIOs named master data management (ASEAN 73%; Global 68%), customer analytics (ASEAN 72%; Global 66%), data warehousing (ASEAN 74%; Global 64%), and visual information dashboards (ASEAN 69%; Global 64%).

Cloud computing continues to grow in importance as a top CIO priority with 60 percent (ASEAN 57%) of CIOs ready to embrace cloud computing over the next five years as a means of growing their businesses and achieving competitive advantage, nearly double the number in the same study two years ago. Specifically, ASEAN CIOs cited rationalization of application portfolio (ASEAN 20%; Global 23%), and utilising cloud services (ASEAN 23%; Global 12%), as top activities to control and reduce legacy costs.

CIOs are also increasingly turning their attention to mobile computing to keep pace with the fast changing marketplace. As the proliferation of mobile devices with enhanced functionality and mobile applications that support business productivity and new market opportunities continue to grow, mobile computing and mobility solutions are now seen by nearly three-quarters of CIOs (ASEAN 68%; Global 74%) as a game-changer for their businesses.

As the role of the CIO itself transforms, so do the types of projects they lead across their enterprises. Simplification is a driving issue for CIOs as more than 80 percent said they plan to lead projects to simplify internal processes (ASEAN 86%; Global 84%). This allows CIOs to focus less time and resources on running internal infrastructure, and more time on transformation, innovation and business value to help their companies grow revenue, rather than simply running IT. In the 2009 study, CIOs reported that getting closer to clients was on the horizon, but now they say this is very much top of mind.

'It is a positive affirmation that the CIO is no longer looked upon as a technologist but is now recognized for bringing value to the business beyond IT infrastructure and processes," said Eugene Chang, President of IT Management Association (ITMA). "While cost cutting is here to stay as CIOs strive to do more with less, and drive creativity and innovation, there are still much opportunities and value to be leveraged from the cloud, business analytics and optimization technologies to help businesses infuse technology into products, services and processes."

"This study is invaluable in tracking the evolution of both the CIO and the role of IT in driving business growth," said Bruni. "The thoughts and aspirations, challenges and insights shared in this report provide compelling evidence that IT is no longer simply an enabler of business. Increasingly, it is the business itself, as evidenced by the dramatic rise in importance of the CIO as strategic thinker and partner in business growth."

Perhaps the most useful insight to emerge from this study, however, is not what makes CIOs similar, but what makes them different. Getting the IT fundamentals right is essential for credibility and trust and CIOs everywhere spend at least a portion of their time on the basics like managing their organizations' digital infrastructure.

Beyond managing these prerequisites, the study identified four distinct "Mandates", based on how each organization views the role of IT: Leverage, Expand, Transform and Pioneer. These mandates identify clear areas where IT must excel to support and enable the organisation, and determine the required competencies IT needs to obtain and develop.

"High performing companies distinguish themselves in their ability to keep the CIO team focused on the business-aligned IT priorities," said Bruni. "They do that by clearly articulating and communicating the CIO team mission, or "Mandate" and using it as a prioritization mechanism for the IT investments."

Cross-posted from myITview.com

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